We don't know much about how PRISM may or may not work, or may or may not exist, at least in the form specified in the leaked slide deck. We also don't know if we should be aghast or complacent, cool like Ferris on his day off, or agitated like his pal Cameron. Are we witnessing privacy and the rights of individuals explode around us?

That book is Eskine Quint, Intrepid Adventurer Extraordinaire, and it is the story of the hunt for the source of all human madness, and of course, the Holy Grail. It is a pythonesque extravaganza of humour that starts in the Himalayas in India where Eskine and his faithful companion Kimjabi begin their quest by climbing Mount Everest.

In his introduction to the 2009 edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Doctor Who writer Russell T Davies praises the tattered old paperback copy of Douglas Adams' sci-fi classic that he carried around in his back pocket in his school days. I had one too and I loved it just as much.